Systems and methods for a personally allocated interface for use in a welding system

ABSTRACT

A welding system having a welding power supply, a wire feeder coupled to the welding power supply, and a welding torch coupled to the wire feeder and configured to output wire from the wire feeder is provided. In particular, the welding system includes a wireless module (e.g., gateway) disposed within a component of the welding system, or as an independent component within the welding system. For example, the wireless module may be disposed within the welding power supply, the wire feeder, or the welding torch. The wireless module is configured to wirelessly transmit to and receive welding information, such as operator identification information, from a wireless personal device. The wireless personal device is uniquely associated with a welding operator operating the welding system.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates generally to the field of welding systems, andmore particularly to systems and methods for wireless resources thatutilize one or more personally allocated interfaces for facilitating andsupporting the welding system.

Welding processes are utilized in virtually all industries, frommanufacturing, to power production, to shipbuilding, to maintenance,just to mention a few. Conventional welding systems have operated asstand-alone installations, either fixed in factory or service centersettings, or mobile, such as for adaptable manufacturing and fieldservice. In many scenarios, it is increasingly useful to set performancecriteria, monitor performance, and/or analyze performance for aparticular welding task or job. In some situations, it may be beneficialto associate an operator to the particular welding task or job theoperator is performing. In particular, it is increasingly useful to set,monitor, track, and/or analyze operator performance for the particularwelding task or job.

Systems designed to associate and/or track an operator with a particularwelding system, location, task, or job, however, have not reached apoint where they are easily and effectively utilized. For example, insome current systems, a welding operator's identification card isscanned or identification/authenticating information is entered.Accordingly, there is a need for the efficient identification and/orauthentication of an operator prior to commencing a welding task or jobat a particular welding system or location. Accordingly, improvements inthese areas may be beneficial to maintain operator performance and/orretrospectively review operator performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a welding system having a welding power supply, awire feeder coupled to the welding power supply, and a welding torchcoupled to the wire feeder and configured to output wire from the wirefeeder is provided. In particular, the welding system includes awireless module (e.g., gateway) disposed within a component of thewelding system, or as an independent component within the weldingsystem. For example, the wireless module may be disposed within thewelding power supply, the wire feeder, or the welding torch. Thewireless module is configured to wirelessly transmit to and receivewelding information, such as operator identification information, from awireless personal device. The wireless personal device is uniquelyassociated with a welding operator operating the welding system.

DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood when the following detaileddescription is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in whichlike characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical representation of an embodiment of acloud-based welding system in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the welding system of FIG. 1 in wirelesscommunication with one or more personally allocated devices, inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a wireless communicationschannel established between the personally allocated device of FIG. 2and a gateway disposed within the welding system of FIG. 2, inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for enabling weldingoperations on the welding system of FIG. 2 for a particular operator, inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, many modifications and changes will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appendedclaims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit of the invention.

Embodiments of the welding system described herein may include one ormore personally allocated devices having wireless capabilities (e.g.,smart phone, tablet, notepad, helmet, audio input device, personalclothing, tags, laptop, etc.) that are personally allocated to a weldingoperator. In particular, the personally allocated device may includeinformation that is captured by the welding system to identify and/orauthenticate the welding operator. As explained in greater detail below,the personally allocated device may be configured to wirelesslycommunicate with one or more components of the welding system, such as awireless module or gateway. In certain embodiments, the personallyallocated device may establish wireless communications with the wirelessmodule or gateway with one or more different binding processes, asfurther detailed below. In other embodiments, the personally allocateddevice may establish more direct wireless communications with thewireless module or gateway via one or more different wirelesscommunications standards, as further described below. Once wirelesscommunications is securely established, the paired devices may transfervarious welding related information, such as operator identificationinformation.

In certain embodiments, the welding operator may be automaticallyidentified via the personally allocated device when the operator isproximate to the welding system. Further, upon identification, thewelding system may be configured to authenticate the operator for aparticular welding system, location, or task. In some situations, thewelding system may load an operator profile corresponding to the weldingoperator, which may, for example, have pre-set parameters that limit theoperator's functions. In particular, the welding system may monitor andtrack operator performance, which may be communicated to a cloud storageor service. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the personallyallocated device may be utilized by the operator to view data, determinecurrent settings or parameters, control one or more welding parameters,control a power source, determine deficiencies or configurationproblems, troubleshoot, and so forth.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of acloud-based welding system 10 in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The system 10 may include one or more welding systems 12,which may be physically and/or analytically grouped together asindicated generally by reference numeral 14. In the illustratedembodiment, the welding systems 12 may be further grouped into differentwelding locations 16. Indeed, as will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art, in sophisticated manufacturing and fabrication entities,different locations, facilities, factories, plants, and so forth may besituated in various parts of the same country, or internationally. Thepresent techniques allow for collection of system data, and inparticular welding operator data (e.g., operator performance data), fromall such systems regardless of their welding location 16.

In certain embodiments, the system 10 includes a monitoring/analysissystem 18 that communicates with the welding systems 12 (and anyancillary support equipment) to collect information. For example, thewelding systems 12 include sensors, control circuitry, feedbackcircuits, and so forth that allow for the collection of weldingparameter data. In some situations, system parameters such as arc ontime are analyzed and collected, and may reflect when welding arcs areestablished in times during which welding arcs are maintained. Inaddition, currents and voltages will commonly be sensed and datarepresentative of these will be stored. Additionally, themonitoring/analysis system 24 may collect information directly fromother systems or from other support components within the system 10 thatcollect and store the data. The data will typically be tagged with suchidentifying information as system designations, system types, time anddate, part and weld specification, where applicable, operationidentifications, and so forth. In addition, the data may be tagged toidentify the welding operator associated with the data collected.

The system 10 includes a cloud 22, which may refer to various evolvingarrangements, infrastructure, networks, and the like that will typicallybe based upon the Internet. The term may refer to any type of cloud,including a client clouds, application clouds, platform clouds,infrastructure clouds, server clouds, and so forth. As will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, such arrangements willgenerally allow for third party entities to receive and store datarelated to welding applications, transmit data to welders and entitiesin the welding community for welding applications, provide software as aservice (SaaS), provide various aspects of computing platforms as aservice (PaaS), provide various network infrastructures as a service(IaaS) and so forth. Moreover, included in this term should be varioustypes and business arrangements for these products and services,including public clouds, community clouds, hybrid clouds, and privateclouds. Any or all of these may be serviced by third party entities.Moreover, servicing by third party entities is particularly attractivein many contexts because resources discussed below can provide productsand services that are otherwise unavailable to the welding community.However, in certain embodiments, particularly large entities withdistributed manufacturing operations, private clouds or hybrid cloudsmay be attractive to allow for sharing of welding-relating product andservices across the enterprise.

The cloud 22 may be configured for two-way communications withcomponents of the system 10, such as to the monitoring/analysis system18. In certain embodiments, various wired connections 24 may be utilizedfor such communications, and may include conventional telephony systems,cable systems, hardware-based Internet communications systems, includingrouters, servers, gateways, and any other hardware, software, andfirmware required with such communications. In some embodiments, variouswireless connections 26 (e.g., wireless communications) may be utilized,and may include cellular communications, various wireless protocols,satellite communication, and the like. Further, in some situations, thecloud 22 may communicate to a network 28, which may be configured toreceive and transfer information from a plurality of monitoring/analysissystems 18 within one or more systems 10. As noted above, communicationsbetween the cloud 22 and the network 28 may be wired or wireless, or mayinclude various intermediate devices, such as desktop and portablecomputers, hand-held computing devices, cellular and smart telephones,and so forth.

The system 10 allows for the grouping, analysis, and presentation of theinformation collected by the monitoring/analysis system 18 on one ormore operator interfaces 20. In many cases the operator interface 20 maycomprise a conventional computer workstation, a handheld device, atablet computer, or any other suitable interface. A number of differentdevice platforms may be accommodated on the operator interface 20, andwebpages containing useful interfaces, analysis, reports, and the likewill be presented in a general purpose interface, such as a browser. Awide range of information may be processed through the operatorinterface 20, such as welding job/work order identification, machineperformance feedback to the operator, alerts to the operator, operatorinputs, barcodes (e.g., barcodes of materials, work orders, or otheridentifiers), and so forth. In particular, the system 10 may includeidentification, verification, and authentication features, such asprompting the operator (e.g., user) for user names, passwords, and soforth, via the operator interface 20. The identification, verification,and authentication features may be provided to the system 10 by theoperator via the operator interface 20. In some embodiments, such asthose detailed below, identification information associated with thewelding operator may be automatically captured by the system 10.

For example, in certain embodiments, one or more personally allocateddevices 30 may be configured to establish wireless communications 26(e.g., wireless communications channel) with the welding system 12. Thepersonally allocated device 30 may be any device that is associated witha particular welding operator, such as a smart phone, a tablet, anotepad, a welding helmet, an audio input device, a personal clothingitem, a personal welding clothing item, an employee tag, a laptop, apersonal welding tool, or any item or device that may be configured withwireless capabilities. In particular, the personally allocated device 30may be configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more componentsof the welding system, such as a wireless module 32 or a gateway 32disposed within a particular welding system 12 or location 16, toexchange welding related information. For example, certain personallyallocated devices 30 may be configured with a wireless module 34 towirelessly communicate with the gateway 32. Other personally allocateddevices 30, such as a smart phone or a tablet, may be pre-configuredwith wireless capabilities.

In some embodiments, the personally allocated devices 30 mayautomatically establish wireless communications 26 (e.g., wirelesscommunication data and/or authentication channels) with the gateway 32to enable an exchange of information. The channel 26 may be establishedusing any suitable protocol when the device 30 is proximate to thegateway 32 (e.g., within a particular range, distance, or radius). Forexample, wireless communications may be established using the IEEE802.15.4 standard, and may be, for example, ZigBee, WirelessHART, orMiWi protocols. Additionally or alternatively, wireless communicationsmay be established using the Bluetooth standard, one or more of the IEEE802.11 standards, an ultra-wideband (UWB) standard, or a near-fieldcommunication (NFC) standard. In certain embodiments, the personallyallocated device 30 may establish wireless communications 26 (e.g.,wireless communication data and/or authentication channels) with thegateway 32 when a binding or pairing process is activated to enable anexchange of information, as further described in detail with respect toFIG. 2.

Upon either automatically or actively establishing wirelesscommunications between the personally allocated device 30 and thegateway 32, identification information corresponding to the operator maybe transferred, which the system 10 may use to verify and authenticatethe operator. For example, in certain embodiments, themonitoring/analysis system 18 or the cloud 22 may include a plurality ofprofiles, where each profile corresponds to a different user oroperator. In some situations, the user profile associated with thatoperator may be locally loaded and displayed, and may includeinformation related to operational parameters, permissions, orlimitations set for the operator. In this manner, the system 10 may beconfigured to enable or disable one or more functions of the weldingoperator (e.g., limit operational functionalities of the weldingoperator) based on the permissions allocated to the operator for thatparticular welding system 12, location 16, experience level, weldingtask/job, or any other factor. In some embodiments, the operator'sfunctions during a particular welding task/job are monitored andtracked, and the data collected during this period may be associatedwith the user profile of the operator. Indeed, after an initialauthentication and verification of the operator, other forms of weldingrelated information may be transmitted via the wireless communications26, as further explained below with respect to FIG. 3

In some situations, the data collected may be stored in a remotelocation (e.g., the cloud 22 or the monitoring/analysis system 18) witha tag associating the data to a user profile. In such situations, thedata collected may be automatically transferred to the cloud 22.Alternatively, in some situations, the data collected may be storedlocally at the gateway 32 if communications to the cloud 22 areunavailable via the network 28 or the monitoring/analysis system 18, andmay be transferred to the cloud 22 (or other storage devices) at a latertime. It should be noted that data associated with a particular operatormay be monitored and tracked during the operation, or may be retrievedand analyzed to measure operator performance at a later time.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the welding system 12 of FIG. 1 in wirelesscommunication with one or more personally allocated devices 30 inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. It should beappreciated that, while the welding system 12 described herein isspecifically presented as a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) system 12, theembodiments described therein may also be utilized with other arcwelding processes (e.g., FCAW, FCAW-G, GTAW (TIG), SAW, SMAW) or otherwelding processes (e.g., friction stir, laser, hybrid). The weldingsystem 12 includes a welding power supply unit 36 (i.e., a welding powersource), a welding wire feeder 38, a gas supply system 40, and a weldingtorch 42. The welding power supply unit 36 generally supplies power tothe welding system 12 and other various accessories, and may be coupledto the welding wire feeder 38 via a weld cable 44. The welding powersupply unit 36 may also be coupled to a workpiece 46 using a lead cable48 having a clamp 50. In the illustrated embodiment, the welding wirefeeder 38 is coupled to the welding torch 42 via a weld cable 52 inorder to supply welding wire and power to the welding torch 42 duringoperation of the welding system 12. In another embodiment, the weldingpower supply unit 36 may couple and directly supply power to the weldingtorch 42.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the welding power supply unit36 may generally include power conversion circuitry that receives inputpower from an alternating current power source 54 (e.g., the AC powergrid, an engine/generator set, or a combination thereof), conditions theinput power, and provides DC or AC output power via the weld cable 44.As such, the welding power supply unit 36 may power the welding wirefeeder 38 that, in turn, powers the welding torch 42, in accordance withdemands of the welding system 12. The lead cable 48 terminating in theclamp 50 couples the welding power supply unit 36 to the workpiece 46 toclose the circuit between the welding power supply unit 36, theworkpiece 46, and the welding torch 42. The illustrated welding system12 includes a gas supply system 40 that supplies a shielding gas orshielding gas mixtures to the welding torch 42. In the depictedembodiment, the gas supply system 40 is directly coupled to the weldingtorch 42 via a gas conduit 56 that is part of the weld cable 44 from thewelding power supply unit 36.

In certain embodiments, the operator interface 20 may be incorporatedwith the monitoring/analysis system 18, and may be configured to receivea user input to determine a weld process, a weld application, anoperator identification or authentication, etc. A controller 58 utilizesa processor 60 to execute instructions loaded to the monitoring/analysissystem 18 and/or stored into a memory 62 to determine the weld processand/or the weld variables. For example, in certain embodiments, themonitoring/analysis system 18 may load a user profile associated with aparticular operator, and may limit the operational functionalities ofthe operator based on the user profile. In particular, as noted abovewith respect to FIG. 1, the monitoring/analysis system 18 is configuredto receive information (e.g., welding operator identificationinformation) from the gateway 32, which may be configured as a componentof the system 10.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the gateway 32 may beincorporated into the welding power supply unit 36. In some situations,the gateway 32 may be disposed proximate to a welding control panel 59on the welding power supply unit 36, which may include a display and/ora human machine interface that displays information related to thegateway 32 (e.g., status, connectivity, etc.). In other embodiments, thegateway 32 may be incorporated into the wire feeder 38, or may be astandalone component of the welding system 12. As noted above withrespect to FIG. 1, the gateway 32 may comprise a wireless module capableof establishing wireless communications 26 (e.g., wirelesscommunications channel) with the personally allocated device 30 in orderto enable the exchange of welding related information, such as operatoridentification information. In certain embodiments, the gateway 32automatically detects when the personally allocated device 30 is withina pre-set and/or target range (e.g., distance) and automaticallyestablishes wireless communications 26 via one or more suitablestandards (as described above with respect to FIG. 1). For example, awelding helmet 64 associated with a particular user or operator mayautomatically establish wireless communications 26 with the gateway 32when the operator and/or the welding helmet 64 is proximate (e.g., near)the welding system 12. The distance or range of activation may be basedon different parameters, such as the type of wireless communication, thespecification of the device 30 or the gateway 32, the strength of thewireless signal, a preset value, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the gateway 32 and the personally allocated device30 establish wireless communications 26 via a binding or pairingprocess. The binding/pairing process involves activating the associationbetween the gateway 32 and the personally allocated device 30 in orderto establish wireless communications 26, thereby securely enabling theexchange of welding related information. For example, in somesituations, a personally allocated device 30, such as a computing device66 (e.g., smartphone, iPad, portable electronic device, etc.) associatedwith a particular user or operator, may scan a barcode disposed on thewelding system 12, such as a barcode disposed on the power supply unit36, the wire feeder 38, the gas supply system 40, the welding torch 42,and so forth. Likewise, a unique serial number associated with acomponent of the welding system 12 may be entered into the computingdevice 66 to activate the association between the gateway 32 and thecomputing device 66. Further, in some situations, the binding processmay be activated simultaneously at the gateway 32 and the personallyallocated device 30 via an activation feature 68 (e.g., activationbutton 68). In this example, the operator may trigger the feature 68(e.g., activation button 68) on the gateway 32 at the same time that afeature 68 of the personally allocated device 30 is triggered.Triggering the two devices approximately simultaneously may activate thebinding process, and allow the devices to recognize each other toestablish wireless communications 26. As a further example, in somesituations, a feature 68 of the personally allocated device 30 or thegateway 32 may be triggered first. The triggered device begins to searchfor the complementary device, at which point a feature 68 on thecomplementary device 30 or complementary gateway 32 is triggered toactivate the binding process.

In certain embodiments, the binding and/or pairing process involves ahelmet as the personally allocated device 30. For example, when theauto-darkening feature of a helmet is activated with 90% synchronizationwith the Arc On/Off signals from the power supply unit 36, a bindingand/or pairing association may be made between the particular helmet inuse and the gateway 32 disposed within the power supply unit 36. In somesituations, if two helmets are within a pairing range, the helmet thatestablish a binding or pairing process with the gateway 32 may be thehelmet that autodarkens in-synch with the power supply unit 36. Itshould be noted that in some situations, redundancy may be a way toincrease confidence in the collected information. For example, if two ormore devices allocated to one operator are in the work area, it is moreprobable that this operator is the person in this work area. Even ifanother personally allocated device is in the area, the system maydetermine the correct operator is the one with the highest number ofpersonally allocated devices reporting. Another example, the gateway 32may be configured to recognize personally allocated devices 30 that arefrequently and/or repeatedly used. Accordingly, the gateway 32 mayinclude intelligence that allows it to more likely establish a pairingwith frequently and/or repeatedly used personally allocated devices 30rather than a personally allocated device 30 with less historicalsignificance. For example, in a situation where a previously used helmetis within the welding area and has on/off synchronization, if anotherpersonally allocated device 30, such as, for example, protectiveclothing, Smartphone, or HMI, was also proximate to the gateway 32, thenthe personally allocated device 30 that establishes the communicationsmay be the helmet that has made a previous binding or pairing. Indeed,redundancy may help the gateway 32 weed through a plurality of devices30 by analyzing the historical backlog of previous communications,and/or the personally allocated device 30 that is more secure (e.g.,greater confidence in the identification of the operator).

As noted above, once wireless communications 26 is established betweenthe gateway 32 and the personally allocated device 30, welding relatedinformation may be exchanged between the two devices. For example, thegateway 32 may receive identification information that corresponds tothe particular user or operator the personally allocated device 30 isassociated with. Further, as noted above, the monitoring/analysis system18 and/or the cloud 22 may utilize the identification information toretrieve a user profile associated with that operator. However, itshould be noted that in some embodiments, a user profile may beunavailable or non-existent. In such circumstances, themonitoring/analysis system 18 may still correlate, store, or tag anydata gathered during operation of the system 10 to the operator with aunique identification number associated with the device 30, an IPaddress associated with the device 30, a unique employee ID, etc.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the wirelesscommunications 26 established between the personally allocated device 30of FIG. 2 and the gateway 32 disposed within the welding system 12 ofFIG. 2, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In theillustrated embodiment, the gateway 32 is disposed within the powersupply unit 36 of the welding system 12. However, it should be notedthat in other embodiments, the gateway 32 may be disposed anywherewithin the welding system 12, such as within other components of thewelding system 12 or as an independent component. As noted above,wireless communications 26 is used to exchange information between thewelding system 12 and the personally allocated devices 30, where eachpersonally allocated device 30 corresponds to a particular welding useror operator. Further, as noted above, the wireless communications 26 iseither automatically established when the device 30 is within the rangeof the gateway 32, or may be activated to be established via theactivation binding or pairing process (as noted above with respect toFIG. 2).

As illustrated, the welding system 12 includes the power supply unit 36having the welding control panel 59. In some embodiments, the weldingcontrol panel 59 includes a user interface 70 through which a user maychoose a process or input desired welding parameters. The control panel59 may receive inputs via the user interface 70 using a keypad,keyboard, buttons, touch screen, voice activation system, etc. Further,the control panel 59 includes a display 72 for presenting, showing, orindicating, welding related information to an operator. For example, thecontrol panel 59 may display the status (e.g., connected, weak signal,strong signal, disconnected, available devices 30 for connection, etc.)of the wireless connection (e.g., wireless communications channel 26)between the gateway 32 and the personally allocated device 30. Further,the control panel 59 may provide a selection of devices 30 that arewithin a range of the gateway 32, so that the user may select thecorresponding personally allocated device 30 via user interface 70. Theselected device 30 may be utilized to establish the wireless connectionchannel 26. In this manner, the operator may be sure that the desireddevice 30 is operatively coupled to the welding system 12, and thatwelding related information transmitted between the devices is from theintended source.

The gateway 32, whether disposed within the power supply unit 36,another component of the welding system 12, or as an independentcomponent of the welding system 12, utilizes the processor 60 to executeinstructions loaded to the gateway 32, received from themonitoring/analysis system 18, and/or stored into a memory 62. Inparticular, the gateway 32 may contain additional storage 74 whereoperating data collected by the welding system 12 is stored locallyuntil it is transferred to the monitoring/analysis system 18, thenetwork 28, and/or the cloud 22 at a later time.

As noted above, the personally allocated device 30 may be any devicethat is associated with a particular welding operator, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a notepad, a welding helmet, an audio input device, apersonal clothing item, a personal welding clothing item, an employeetag, a laptop, a welding glove, a personal welding tool, or any item ordevice that may be configured with wireless capabilities. In someembodiments, the personally allocated device 30 may be any device thatmay be configured with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. Incertain embodiments, the personally allocated device 30 is a computingdevice 66 (e.g., smartphone, iPad, portable electronic device, etc.)that includes at least one processor 76, a memory device 78, and astorage device 80. Each of these devices may incorporate features ofsimilar devices previously described. Further, the computing device 66also includes a user interface 82 for providing inputs to and/orreceiving outputs from the computing device 66. For example, the userinterface 82 may be disposed on or may be utilized with a display 84 fordisplaying data, video, etc.

During welding operations, the computing device 66 may be utilized for avariety of purposes. For example, as described above, the computingdevice 66 may be associated with a particular operator, so it may beutilized to establish wireless communications 26 to the welding system12 and transfer welding related information, such as identificationinformation corresponding to the operator. Upon receiving theidentification information, the welding system 12 may identify andauthorize the operator for certain welding operations or tasks. In someembodiments, a user profile may be retrieved from the cloud 22, thenetwork 28, and/or the monitoring/analysis system 18, where the userprofile corresponds to the operator. Accordingly, the welding system 12may limit the operations of the operator based on the permissionsallocated to the operator. The user profile, the limitations, thepermissions, and generally any other information related to the operatormay be displayed on the display 84 of the computing device 66.

Further, once wireless communications 26 is established, other forms ofwelding related information may be transmitted between devices. In somesituations, the data from a welding operation performed by the operatormay be logged by the welding system 12 and/or the computing device 66.The logged data may be correlated to the operator via the computingdevice 66 (e.g., the personally allocated device 30), and may betransferred to the monitoring/analysis system 18 or the cloud 22 forfurther processing and/or analysis. In some situations, operatorperformance may be determined by the logged data. Further, in somesituations, welding parameters being utilized by the operator may bemonitored by a third party during the welding operation, and theoperator may be altered or informed if the welding parameters areoutside of desired boundaries via the computing device 66. For example,a number of audio and/or visual alerts or alarms may be triggered by athird party monitoring the data received at the monitoring/analysissystem 18 or the cloud 22 and received by the operator via the computingdevice 66.

In particular, in some embodiments, the personally allocated device 30(e.g., computing device 66) may include a welding application storedwithin the memory 78 of the computing device 66. The welding applicationmay be a set of executable instructions stored within the memory 78 andexecuted by the processor 76. The welding application may be selected bythe operator using the user interface 82, and the welding applicationmay be utilized to perform the functionalities of the personallyallocated device 30 described above. For example, the welding operatormay engage the welding application (e.g., via voice activation, touchscreen, buttons, keyboard, keypad, etc.) to perform a wide variety ofactivities, such as establishing wireless communications 26 (e.g.,wireless communications channel), transferring welding relatedinformation, activating the binding or pairing process, logging datacorresponding to an operator or component of the welding process such asa consumable or the part to be welded, transferring identificationinformation correlating to the operator, authenticating the operator,providing user profile information on the display 84, providing weldingoperations limitations and/or permissions on the display 84, providinginformation related to the welding parameters, solicit input from theoperator, etc.

In particular, in certain embodiments, the welding application mayadditionally be utilized as a controller to control various componentsand parameters of the welding system 12. For example, the weldingoperator may engage the welding application on the personally allocateddevice 30 prior to commencing a welding operation, establish wirelesscommunications 26 to a gateway 32 of the welding system to enable theexchange of information, and commence the welding operations within thedesignated operating parameters and permissions allocated to theoperator. Once the welding operations commence, the operator can controlvarious welding parameters (e.g., voltage output, current output, a wirefeed speed, pulse parameters, etc.) from the personally allocated device30 via one or more controls signals, as can be appreciated by oneskilled in the art. For example, the operator may wirelessly adjust oneor more welding parameters of the welding system 12 from a remotelocation (e.g., a location removed from the welding system 12, butwithin the operational range of the gateway 32). The adjustments may bepreferences on the welding application that the operator may easilycontrol, and may be provided to the device 30 via the user interface 82,as can be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Further, the device 30may transmit the operator's changes/adjustments of the weldingparameters as control signals to the welding system 12.

It should be noted that a plurality of personally allocated devices 30may be within the range of the gateway 32 of the welding system 12.Accordingly, the welding application on the personally allocated device30 may be configured to control the welding system 12 that hasestablished wireless communications 26 (e.g., devices that have beensecurely paired via the binding process). In this manner, the operatormay securely control welding parameters from a remote location via thewelding application.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method 86 for enablingwelding operations on the welding system 12 of FIG. 2 for a particularoperator, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thewelding system 12, and more particularly, the gateway 32 disposed withinthe welding system 12, establishes the wireless communications 26 withthe personally allocated device 30 (block 88). As noted above, thepersonally allocated device 30 is any device that is associated with aparticular welding operator, such as a smart phone, a tablet, a notepad,a welding helmet, an audio input device, a personal clothing item, apersonal welding clothing item, an employee tag, a laptop, a personalwelding tool, any item or device configured with an RFID tag, or anyitem or device that may be configured with wireless capabilities.Further, as noted above, wireless communications 26 may be establishedautomatically or through an active binding/pairing process.

Once wireless communications 26 is established, welding relatedinformation may be transmitted between the paired devices. Accordingly,in some embodiments, the personally allocated device 30 may transferoperator identification information that identifies the operatorassociated with the device 30, and the welding system 12 receives thesame (block 90). The identification information may be utilized by thesystem 10 to identify, verify, and authenticate the operator (block 92).For example, in some situations, the identification information receivedmay be compared to the local or remote database to determine accesssettings. Further, in some embodiments, the identification informationmay be used to retrieve a user profile from the monitoring/analysissystem 18 or the cloud 22 that corresponds to the operator. The accesssettings or permissions/limitations may be predetermined and storedwithin the monitoring/analysis system 18 and/or the cloud 22, and may bebased on a number of factors, such as the welding system 12 in question,the location 16 of the welding task, the experience level of theoperator, the welding task/job, material to be welded, consumablesallocated for this job, and so forth.

Based on the access settings allocated for the particular operatorand/or based on the permissions or limitations allocated to theoperator, the system 10 may be configured to enable welding operationsfor the operator within particular boundaries (block 94). In thismanner, the welding system 12 may limit the operational functionalitiesof the welding operator based on the authentication process.

While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, many modifications and changes will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appendedclaims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: detecting that aplurality of wireless personal devices are within a communication rangeof a wireless module disposed within a welding component of a weldingsystem, the plurality of wireless personal devices being associated withone or more welding operators; identifying a particular welding operatorthat is associated with a greater number of the plurality of wirelesspersonal devices than any other welding operator of the one or morewelding operators; determining a set of operational parameters withinwhich the particular welding operator may operate the welding system;enabling operation of the welding system for the particular weldingoperator within the determined set of operational parameters; collectingwelding information from feedback sensors during operation of thewelding system; and storing the welding information in a memory storage,wherein the welding information is associated with the particularwelding operator operating the welding system when stored.
 2. The methodof claim 1, further comprising establishing wireless communicationsbetween a wireless personal device that is associated with theparticular welding operator and the wireless module.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the plurality of wireless personal devices includes thewireless personal device.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprisingreceiving operator identification information relating to the particularwelding operator from the wireless personal device, the operationalparameters determined based at least in part on the operatoridentification information.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisingverifying the operator identification information to authenticate theparticular welding operator, wherein authenticating the particularwelding operator comprises comparing the operator identificationinformation to information associated with a plurality of weldingoperators stored in local memory storage or remote cloud-based memorystorage.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more weldingoperators includes the particular welding operator, and the plurality ofwireless personal devices comprise one or more welding gloves, clothingitems, glasses, watches, or welding tools.
 7. A welding system,comprising: a welding power supply comprising a wireless moduleconfigured to: identify a welding helmet based on a degree ofsynchronization between an auto-darkening feature of the welding helmetand an arc welding process of the welding power supply, establishcommunication with the welding helmet, wirelessly receive operatoridentification information from the welding helmet, the operatoridentification information relating to a particular welding operatoroperating the welding power supply; and a monitoring system configuredto collect welding feedback data during operation of the welding powersupply, store the welding feedback data in memory storage, and associatethe particular welding operator with the welding feedback data in thememory storage.
 8. The welding system of claim 7, wherein the degree ofsynchronization comprises 90% synchronization.
 9. The welding system ofclaim 7, further comprising: control circuitry configured to retrieve auser profile corresponding to the particular welding operator from thememory storage based on the operator identification information, whereinthe welding feedback data is associated with the user profile in thememory storage when the welding feedback data is stored in the memorystorage.
 10. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the user profilecomprises a set of operational permissions that limits functionality ofthe welding system.
 11. The welding system of claim 7, wherein thewelding feedback data comprises data relating to a welding process, awelding current, a welding voltage, a workpiece identification, a timeof a welding operation, or a location of the welding operation.
 12. Thewelding system of claim 7, wherein the wireless module is configured toidentify the welding helmet from a plurality of welding helmets.
 13. Amethod, comprising: establishing wireless communications between: awireless module that is disposed within a welding component, and a firstwireless personal device that is associated with first operatoridentification information; establishing wireless communication betweenthe wireless module and a second personal device that is associated withsecond operator identification information; receiving the first operatoridentification information and the second operator identificationinformation at the wireless module; identifying a particular weldingoperator associated with both the first operator identificationinformation and the second operator identification information;receiving operator inputs relating to operational parameters of thewelding system from the first or second wireless personal device;controlling a welding operation of the welding system based at least inpart on the particular welding operator and the received operatorinputs; collecting welding feedback data pertaining to the weldingoperation; associating the welding feedback data with a tagrepresentative of the particular welding operator; and storing thewelding data.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the wireless modulecomprises a gateway and the first wireless personal device or secondwireless personal device comprises a welding helmet having a wirelesscommunication device.
 15. The method of claim 4, wherein determining theset of operational parameters is further based on one or more of alocation of the welding system or an experience level associated withthe particular welding operator.
 16. The welding helmet of claim 13,wherein the wireless communications are via an IEEE 802.15.4 standard,ZigBee, WirelessHART, MiWi, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11 standard,ultra-wideband (UWB) standard, or a near-field communication (NFC)standard protocol.